Château de Pourtalès

Château de Pourtalès was built in 1750 on the foundations of the Bussière family's country house, a prosperous Strasbourg industrial family. Between 1870 and 1914, Countess Mélanie and Count Edmond de Pourtalès hosted the finest of European nobility at their château, along with diplomats, philosophers and artists — including Albert Schweitzer, Franz Liszt, Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie, King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Prince Metternich. Both world wars badly damaged the château and its outbuildings. In 1972, Dr. Walter Leibrecht, founder of Schiller International University, acquired it and undertook an extensive restoration. Since 2007, Harald and Ulrike Leibrecht have continued its renovation and expansion.

Today its 48 rooms are split across three buildings: the Château and its Annex (traditional decor) and "Le Parc" (modern, nature-inspired decor).

The roster of documented 19th-century guests — Liszt, Napoleon III, Empress Eugénie and Metternich among them — gives Pourtalès a concentration of high-profile European history rarely matched by other Alsace properties.

The château's near-destruction across two world wars, followed by a 1972 restoration under an American university founder, ties its modern survival directly to postwar academic philanthropy rather than continuous noble ownership.

The addition of the contemporary "Le Parc" building since 2007 means a large share of the current room inventory is in an entirely modern structure, distinct from the château's 18th-century core.

The estate's position just a few kilometers from central Strasbourg, within its own 15-hectare park, gives guests staying at Pourtalès quick access to the UNESCO-listed Grande Île.